Waiting for the End
by A.T. Vio
Summary: The apocalypse. It occurs while Zim is still on Earth, which is still unconquered. What happens to Zim? How will he tell the Tallests? What about Dib and Gaz? ZATR. Better than I make it sound! Rated T just in case.RXR!
1. Day 1: It Starts

Day 1: It Starts

"…And that, you horrible children, is how one day, the world will end." Ms. Bitters concluded her discussion with the class. All of the children sat rigid and petrified in their seats, staring at their teacher with wide eyes. All except for Zim, who sat back with his feet on the desk, eating Fun Dip.

"Glad I asked," Dib murmured to himself. He raised his hand.

"What Dib?" Ms. Bitters hissed.

"Will this happen soon?" he asked. The rest of the class shushed him, not wanting to hear any more on the subject. "What, ignoring the facts doesn't change them!"

"Well since you asked, -" Ms. Bitters started, getting cut off when the school bell rang. The class relaxed visibly in their seats as they exited the classroom with an ominous cloud following them.

"Don't forget your essays on Nostradamus. They are due tomorrow at the door." Ms. Bitters called after the leaving children. Dib gathered his stuff and headed to the door unsatisfied. He would just ask his dad about all this "apocalypse" garbage.

"Eh? Who is this 'Nose Drama Moose' of which you speak?" Zim asked, finally zoning back into reality.

Dib sighed. "_Nostradamus _is a historical figure who predicted the end of the world. A lot of people believed his predictions would one day come true, which resulted in humans constant fear of the end of the world." He explained. "Not that you would know."

"Of course I knew of this, of course! Um, I was…uh…testing you! Yes, very good, you pass, now BEGONE!" Zim stated as he rushed out of the classroom.

"Yeah…whatever…" Dib muttered to himself as he left the skool.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Zim walked along the hot sidewalk back to his base, and as he did so, he ranted.

"The end of the Earth? Not while I'm here! Me, ZIM! I must conquer this filthy dirt ball of dirt before that happens! How would I explain to the Tallests that Earth destroyed itself before _I _do? They would surely have me deactivated! I must come up with an ingenious, Dib-proof plan soon!" with that, Zim darted off down the block back to his base.

As he arrived at his door out of breath, Zim could hear a strange ruckus inside. It had GIR written all over it.

"GIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRR!" Zim shouted as he pushed open the door, not even bothering to look at the mess before calling his SIR. He looked around and began to grind his teeth in sheer anger. The walls were colored on, except for the places where the wallpaper was curling from the putrid stench. It caused the air inside to be thick and foggy, full of surely poisonous gases. Most of the furniture was tipped over and ripped apart, leaving cushion-crumbs scattered across what used to be the floor. Trash was strewn carelessly everywhere along with dirt, broken crayons, curled wallpaper, small furry animals and many, MANY piggies.

"Yes, my master!" GIR shouted as he landed in a brief position of duty mode in front of his master. His eyes flashed red, and then almost too soon, glowed a bright blue.

"What on Irk happened here?" Zim yelled, gesturing to the mess inside. GIR looked at it with a look of complete idiocy before saying, "Uh…I dunno…heheheee."

"Well who do you expect to clean this mess up?" Zim asked with a revolted look on his face. He picked up a piece of the cushions with two fingers and dropped it in disgust. GIR sat there looking completely innocent of any crime done here.

"No matter," Zim stated as he hobbled around as many areas as possible without trash. "Computer! Tell Zim more about this…ending of Earth?" a screen appeared from the ceiling showing absolutely horrific images of volcanoes erupting, huge waves of (_shudder) _water flooding abandoned streets, the ground shaking and severed body parts scattered over a vast, desolate land.

"The end of Earth, also known to humans as the apocalypse, is a time foretold by many Earth figures in history. The entire planet will one day become unstable and eventually destroy itself from the inside out." Computer quickly summed up.

"Garbage! What a pack of lies, Zim has nothing to fear—"

"I REMEMBER NOW!" Gir cheered, interrupting Zim.

"GIR, please, I am trying to—"

"Me and Minimoose was tryin' to bake taquitos in tha oven when a rainbow came and hurt the wall! Then we turned into a giant fighting arena and punched a smile on Scary Monkey! Then he ranned away with rainbow and came back with a bunches of baby friends! Then we threw a baby party with lots of babies and PIGGIES!" GIR explained, and then ran out either screaming or crying.

"Why does Zim even bother?" Zim said to himself. He made his way over to the kitchen where the mess wasn't as prominent. He took his disguise off and opened the trashcan to go back down to his labs. He stepped in and commanded the Computer to take him down.

"Stupid filthy Earth lies. Why do they taunt Zim with such things? Does it amuse them? Well there will be no Earth ending! Zim will make sure of tha—AHHHH!" Zim's elevator came to an abrupt halt and sent Zim flying into one of the walls. Something was wrong. The power had gone out too, leaving the Irken alone inside the dark elevator. He was about to command for the power to reboot, but then things took a turn for the worst. The whole base began to shake back and forth. What was this? Zim could hear things falling and breaking in the floor above, leaving him to worry if the elevator would fall. Surely not, it was made of the strongest wire known to the universe; a simple shaking couldn't take down an Irken-built home. But the shaking continued for several moments, each one seeming longer than the last. Time almost paused for a moment while the shaking continued.

As the shaking finally stopped, Zim could still feel his out self quaking, shivering not from surprise, but from…ah, what's the word to be used here? Fear? Yes, fear. Zim was afraid of the earth shaking.

"C-Computer, what-t happened? W-why did o-our power supply r-r-run out? Why di-id the ground s-s-shake?" Zim shakily called to somewhere that he thought was above. No response. "Computer! Zim a-asked a—huh?" Zim cut himself off as he felt more tremors beneath him, and above him. He fell back down and wondered what kept happening.

But that did it. The "all powerful wire" that held the elevator snapped, and brought down the entire thing, including Zim.

"AHHHHHH! A-A-AHHHHHHHHHH!" Zim screamed as he fell what he assumed to be downwards in the darkness. Finally, the elevator collided with the basement floor, causing the Irken inside to black out while the tremors continued, unaware of the things about to happen.

(_**A/N: Okay, so, how'd you like the first chapter of Doominess? Well, I really need to change the name to thing story, so contest time! Whoever can come up with the best name for this story within the next three chapters will get a story (IZ fanfiction) of any kind by me. Other than that, please leave a nice comment, I love those, but if you feel I used incorrect grammar or was OOC, please feel free to tell me! No flames, I will simply extinguish them. Oh, and did anybody watch that Cyberbully show last night on ABC Family? I thought it was sad but had a nice ending, though I probably won't be able to watch Hannah Montana the same way again…Anyways, RxR! Keep you posted as frequently as possible)**_


	2. Day 1and a half: The Toll

Day 1(and a half): The Toll

Dib hated walking home on hot days like these, especially when Gaz was there with her own water bottle, her hair somewhat shading her face. He knew that it would be a quiet ride home, which meant he would have to think about things, which usually ended up bad for him. He also couldn't get the way Ms. Bitters described the world ending out of his head…

"_Ms. Bitters?" Dib asked with a raised hand._

"_Make it quick Dib, I still have to teach about the nature of animal mating rituals." Ms. Bitters said, her expression somewhat souring._

"_Well, I was reading ahead in the textbook, and it was talking about the apocalypse. What is that?" Dib asked, wanting to take attention away from the subject at hand. Of course he already knew what the apocalypse was, it was just that the idea of a lesson on animal mating rituals wasn't the most…intriguing idea of study at the moment._

"_First off, if I ever catch you reading ahead in the textbook again, I will shave your head and make you run fifty laps around the school with thirty pounds of textbooks on your back. Second, the apocalypse is an event in which the entire Earth will destroy itself in a raging fit of fire, water, earth and many other elements. It was foretold by a man named Nostradamus that these events would occur, and so far his predictions have come true. We will eventually all perish in the ash of volcano or end up trapped in a massive tsunami. And that, you horrible children, is how one day, the world will end." Ms. Bitters concluded._

Dib shuddered for a moment as he continued to walk home. He wondered when these events would occur and how many people would survive. He supposed it would always remain a mystery until the day it actually happened.

"Dib, will you please quit talking to yourself?" Gaz growled, her head buried in her Game Slave.

"Wait, I wasn't talking though." Dib said, confused.

"Yes, you were, now leave me alone or I'll pull whatever brains you have out of your head and stuff it down your throat." the young girl threatened.

"But, I wasn't—ugh, never mind." Dib grunted in defeat. No point in arguing with someone who always kept their promises.

As the two siblings walked in a threatening silence, a strange thing happened. It turned dark. At 3:30 in the afternoon. Moments later, the ground beneath their feet began to move around in jagged movements. It caused both siblings to fall down. It took a bit of time to register in their minds what was going on, since the occurrence of this event was so rare in the area they lived in, but they knew it when they felt it. An earthquake.

Gaz put her video game away long enough to notice a building was crumbling, so she grabbed her brother's arm and pulled them both away before it collapsed on them. It was still dark, so it was hard to spot their home with all the confusion of the earthquake and people now running and screaming. The two continued on their way crawling, occasionally trying to walk, but to no avail. Dib could now see their home, which was no longer lit. Neither were any of the homes that he could see so far. He hoped his father was okay, though if he was, then he probably already left Earth's atmosphere hours ago, before the earthquake.

"OW, CRAP!" Dib was startled from his thoughts by his sister's scream from next to him. From what Dib could see, Gaz had spun around and was clutching her leg in pain. Something was on her foot, and she was trying to get her leg out from under it, and with each attempt, her screams getting louder and more profane. Then Dib saw that a lamppost had fallen on her foot. Surely every bone in her foot was broken now, which didn't help since the ground was still shaking. Dib crawled over and with all of his strength, rolled the light off of her foot, leaving behind a crushed foot under a boot drenched in blood. It made him physically ill to look at it, but knew it was for the best that he kept his lunch down and be the brave big brother he was supposed to be.

Then it dawned on him. He would have to carry Gaz all the way home with the ground still quaking, and with most of his neighbors already evacuated of the neighborhood, he had no one to help. So he summed up all of his strength and stood up, which was a challenge in itself. He reached down and held his sister—who had as of now passed out—bridal style and began to slowly walk home. It wasn't that far away, only one block, but it seemed like the distance of the Great Wall of China away to Dib. And it might as well have been, since he had to get Gaz home now before she lost too much blood.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Zim awoke a few minutes later, and as he got back his vision, he started to remember what had happened. But…what exactly had happened? He tried to get up, but when he did, he realized that his right arm hurt immensely. He looked down to see that his arm had been severed from the crash, and there was some shrapnel buried deep in his flesh. He then looked and saw that he was sitting in a pool of his own blood, which caused his facial features to contort into a look of disgust. He had to ignore the pain now, and deal with what had just happened. It looked as though the power had rebooted in his brief time of unconsciousness, and the computers of his lab were all turned on around him.

"Computer," Zim said, his voice extremely dry and hoarse from all the screaming. Though it also hurt to talk, he needed answers. "What…what is h-happening? Why did the base shake?"

"Cause of base to shake, an earthquake. An earthquake is when tremors under the surface of the earth cause the outer surface to shake violently, leaving behind destruction and chaos." Computer replied.

"Destruction and chaos among the humans? Yes, this is good!" Zim said to himself.

"No, master, it is not. Have you seen the upper level of the base yet? It is ruined and vulnerable to any human who wanted to come inside." The Computer replied in a serious down tone.

"The base was ruined before I got here! And aren't all of the other humans' homes like mine? As in, destroyed?" Zim yelled, his voice protesting immediately for abuse.

"Yes, and it seems as though there may be more tremors to come. I would suggest evacuating and leaving Earth before the entire mission is jeopardized." Computer suggested as a screen appeared, showing a map of the local area and where the tremors are and where they will be predicted to strike next.

"Zim does not pay you to make foolish suggestions! How could I abandon the mission at such a crucial time, while the humans are at their weakest? I would be labeled defective and be banished or even deactivated!" Zim replied stubbornly, thinking he needed to stop talking now, as his voice was raw and dying, which made him sound less in-control.

"Perhaps this will change you mind," Computer said as it kept the screen up, showing a live news feed from local television.

A tall, blonde news reporter stood in front of a camera, and the scene behind her showed a crumbled news station.

"Am I on? Oh, okay. Hello, field reporter Jenny Snow here with breaking historical news! Today in the local area, tremors could be felt throughout the city, causing massive earthquakes to trigger, which may cause tsunami damage to surrounding countries. Our scientists think that these things will continue to happen, and are calling a state of emergency for all of North America. If you are in Canada, the United States or Mexico, you should take cover from all buildings to a safe underground shelter for the next week or so.

In other countries, similar things are happening. In Russia, reports are flooding in about volcanoes that had been dormant for hundreds of years suddenly erupting, killing thousands, destroying many small towns and villages. On the coasts of Africa, several what scientists are calling "super tsunamis" have hit land over the past twenty-four hours, causing entire cities to be washed away. A few geographers in Berlin, Germany are calling this the end of all mankind. Oh, dear Lord, save us!" and with that, the transmission cut off.

(A/N: GASP! Two updates in one day? It must be the apocalypse! If you know my other works on here, you would know that I usually NEVER update ANY of my other stories, even though I mean to. But this one is different, since I actually have the story line written out and everything already. And I'm still searching for a name for a new name for this story, unless you like Doominess Earth Doom…But I don't, so I am still holding the contest! I already have a couple on entrees which are pretty good, but since the contest isn't over, I can't pick one…Also, if you felt I got anything wrong grammatically/character wise, please tell me. Or if I got any sort of geography thing wrong, tell me, it's not exactly my strong suit in school, so I could use help with that part. Don't forget to review nice things, coz I like nice things…It makes me feel all fluffy! And has anyone been to Hot Topic lately and been like "Why is there a major lack in Zim spirit in here?" That's how I was, though me and the cashier there had a nice long talk about how awesome Zim is…He seemed nice. ANYWAYS REVIEW!)


	3. Day 3: The Chaos

Day 2: The Chaos

As Dib approached his front door, he could feel his shirt drenching in his sister's blood. This whole day had gone wrong, and he still couldn't figure out why suddenly the sky had turned dark and cold. It didn't matter at the moment, since Gaz was most important right now. He slowly opened the front door, and as he did so, the earthquake stopped.

"Finally." Dib breathed. But something was blocking the front door, or at least making it harder to open. He looked down to see a large suitcase that read "Dib and Gaz Membrane". That must have been for them, but who left it?

"Dad? Hey, Dad, what's going on? What happened to the Sun? Where are you?" Dib shouted as he walked around his home, which had not yet caved in, though almost every Professor Membrane knickknack that had been on the shelves were either tossed on the floor or broken. When there was no answer, Dib didn't mind, he knew that his Dad had probably already left Earth with other scientists and were orbiting the planet in some space station.

Then Dib sat Gaz on the couch, with her severed leg up on a stack of pillows. He then ventured into the kitchen, where there was a small flashlight on the table. Next to the flashlight was a small note with Membrane's signature on it. Dib turned on the flashlight and picked up the note slowly to read it.

_Dear Son or Daughter,_

_By the time you have read this note, surely the end of the world has already started. That's why I left that suitcase with all of the necessities that you will need in this vital time. Be sure you keep your brother/sister safe, and don't lose each other. You both need to get to an underground safety unit before they all become full. Where am I you may ask? Well, by the time you are reading this, I most likely will not be on Earth anymore. As in, I have killed myself. The responsibility of being a parent and saving the Earth was too much to handle in this time. I'm sorry, and I sincerely hope you make it long enough to understand why I did this._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Membrane, Dad_

Dib dropped both the note and flashlight after reading it a couple of times over, rereading it over to see if there was another way, that his dad was just joking and actually hiding upstairs ready to greet them with a hug. But, there wasn't. No greeting. No joke. No hug. No goodbye. It was all written there in front of his face. _As in, I have killed myself. _It was too much. Or not enough, Dib couldn't decide. How could he abandon his two children during the apocalypse? How were they supposed to go on, especially when there was one with a completely crushed leg? Where were any of these "underground safety units"? It was all madness. And out of the madness came rage, not guilt or sadness for his father's suicide. He wasn't worth the tears right now.

That's when the next earthquake started.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As the news feed cut off from the screen, Zim looked on in dismay. So it was the end of the Earth. After a few moments of stillness, all chaos broke loose.

"NUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH MY MISSION! NOT MY PRECIOUS MISSION! WHY? ZIM IS A FAILURE, HOW COULD HE NOT SEE THIS BEFORE? THERE IS NO HOPE, ZIM WILL BE CALLED A DEFECTIVE AND BANISHED. WHAT IF I AM DEACTIVATED? HOW WILL THE LEGACY OF THE ALMIGHTY ZIM CONTINUE? NUUUUUHHHHHHHHUHUHHHH!" Zim shouted, further damaging his voice, causing him his ability to speak. He tried to shout more, but no sound came out, to the Computer's content. He could whisper very softly if he wanted to, so he demanded to be taken back to ground level in the loudest voice possible. Computer denied his request.

"What? What do you mean Zim cannot go to his own home?" Zim whispered at the systems.

"There is no elevator now, since the earthquake took them all offline. You could use the legs in your PAK as an alternate way to—"

"Yes! The rocket in my lab that I had been working on! Brilliant!" Zim murmured, interrupting Computer's suggestion. The Computer sighed as Zim got up—slowly and painfully—from his position on the floor and stumbled to his lab, clutching his now swollen arm. He needed to remove the shrapnel and put something on it to make sure that _germs _didn't infect him and cause further destruction to his invader-like physique.

Zim approached the medium-sized rocket with a look of pride and made sure that there was enough fuel to get him to the upper level. He grabbed it with his good arm and dragged it over to the entrance where the elevator used to be, where light shone down from the floor above. He placed it directly under the hole, and he could see the ceiling of his home. He hopped on the tail and pressed the button, which caused the rocket to lurch forward and spiral upwards into his home. But then he burst through the roof and up into the air.

"AHHH ROCKET, I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Zim "yelled" while pushing the same button that he used to launch himself. By now he was about 30 yards off the ground (90 feet for those people who don't know how to convert units yet -_-). The rocket finally stopped in midair, which sent them both spiraling toward Earth at a deadly speed. But at the last second, Zim pulled out his robotic legs and landed on the not-destroyed part of the roof.

"Wait…why didn't Zim use the robotic legs to just climb up?" Zim asked himself as he entered his base again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Tallest Purple and Tallest Red rested on their "thrones" as they sat in front of a large screen depicting an Irken invader named Tenn explaining her situation.

"Even though the malfunctioning SIR units almost blew my cover, I still know that you didn't do it on purpose, my Tallests. Everything is still in order here, and I will report with more information on taking the capital city there soon. Invader Tenn, signing off." the young Irken gave a salute before cutting the transmission.

"Even though we didn't do it on purpose, sending her those SIRs was still pretty funny." Purple chuckled.

"Yeah, remember when she contacted us and she was like, 'AWW NO HELP ME, THEY DESTROYED EVERYTHING!' Hah, remember?" Red laughed with Purple.

"My Tallests, a transmission is being requested by an Irken Armada ship." a guard working the controls stated. Red sighed, "Patch them through."

"My sirs, we have captured a rogue Irken escape pod floating near the Massive with an Irken inside who claims to have information for you. Would you like to speak with her?" on the screen there was a rather tall-looking commander of one squadron of the Armada, with a female Irken sitting behind him in the background with her head down and purple eyes concentrated on the floor.

"Yes, put her on." Red commanded. There was some shuffling on the screen as the commander pushed her over to the transmission.

"Good day, sirs. I have some information to give you. I went to Earth, where Zim is and—"

"Wait, wait, wait. Weren't you the one who said you would take Zim's mission from him and conquer Earth?" Purple asked, raising an invisible eyebrow. The female visibly gulped and continued.

"Yes, well Zim was far too stupid to die, you see, and I tried everything in my power to take over, but—"

"Then clearly you didn't try hard enough. For lying to us about taking Earth, you will be sentenced to the rest of your life aboard the Massive, in prison." Red announced. The Irken looked astonished at her leaders.

"Wait!" she said, "Don't you have to have a just trial to be able to put me in prison?"

"No!" both Tallests said in unision. They then cut the transmission.

"Hey what was her name anyways?" Purple asked.

"I don't remember, but I guess we'll find out soon enough." Red replied as he got up to go get more snacks

_**(A/N: YES, I FINALLY GOT TO KILL OFF MEMBRANE! Hah, I've always wanted to, I don't like him even more than I don't like Dib! That's right, I said it, I HATE DIB! I'm now prepared to be sacrificed by angry Dib fangirls now, and my hatred for him is why he also WILL NOT FALL IN LOVE!(in this story) Anyways, this is the last chapter you get to place your entry for my naming this story contest! You can enter as many as three names, and the winner will get any sort of story of the IZ fanbase that you ask for. And for those of you asking about Tak, she will play a much more significant roll a little later in the story. I just decided to show how she ends up in prison. Sorry, but Tak's parts won't be as much, and soon Zim and Dib's will combine, so I'm sure I just gave away the story, but whatever. Don't forget to review, and if you have a Facebook and haven't joined the Operation Head Pigeons 2.0 page, then you should, because we are SO CLOSE to getting Zim back with new episodes! Anyways, if you have joined OHP, can someone please tell them about this story? I would do it myself, but am not allowed on Facebook for awhile (personal resons) and as always, review nice things, tell your friends and the sooner you review, the quicker I write ZATR parts! Kbye!)**_


	4. Day 3: The Parting

Ahhhh! This whole entire time I've been going without a disclaimer and nobody told me! Well, here's my disclaimer for all the chapters. I DON'T OWN INVADER ZIM; IT BELONGS TO LORD JHONEN VASQUEZ!

Day 3: The Parting

Dib stood motionless in the middle of his shattered kitchen, letting tears form in his eyes. He wondered where his father's...um…body was. Of course he knew he couldn't go looking for him in the darkness and rubble of the outside world, and by now he was pretty sure that he and Gaz were the only ones occupying the Membrane household. He was scared to know that his sister and him were the only ones now, alone with nowhere to go. He didn't care that there was an earthquake going on right now, his feet remained planted in the weight they now bared.

He needed to help his sister now, so Dib had to drag his lumps that he called feet over to the couch where he had sat her. She was still unconscious, so she probably couldn't tell that there was an earthquake going on. She was losing too much blood, and soon she would be gone too, and truly leave Dib alone. He took off his trench coat, ripped off one of the sleeves, and wrapped it tightly around her leg, creating some sort of makeshift tourniquet. As he finished tying it together, the TV fell from it's place on the wall and smashed on the floor, only about a foot away from where Gaz was laying. Parts of the ceiling were beginning to crack and fall. The house wasn't stable enough, and they needed to get somewhere safer. Maybe leave the Earth in Tak's Spittle Runner? At least get out of the atmosphere until all the damage had been done.

He decided it was better than staying and waiting for someone else to get hurt, namely himself. He picked up Gaz yet again, and the second earthquake then stopped, leaving some room to get to the Spittle with some ease. He made sure that the "tourniquet" was tight enough around her leg before briskly walking down the hall towards the garage. When he got to the door, he remembered it was dark, so he quickly retrieved the flashlight and opened the garage door. When he flicked on the flashlight, his eyes bugged out. In the last earthquake, he hadn't realized that the roof of the garage had caved in, right on top of the Irken ship. Dib's stomach dropped and he felt completely flustered and helpless. He knew something would go wrong, like he didn't have the right fuel supply, or _this. _He had an idea earlier, though he knew it would be dangerous to approach it. The idea made him cringe, not with fear, but with the complete thought of going insane. But now, looking around and having nothing but the half-dead sister who hates him, he knew there wasn't really another option.

Dib slowly backed out of the garage, put whatever was left of his coat back on, and walked back outside. What he saw shocked him. He knew there would be a lot of destruction, but from what he could make out in the darkness, already one third of the town had fallen, at least three houses in the neighborhood were on fire, and there were two dead bodies next door. It was especially sickening to know that somewhere out there was his father, cold and dead. He felt sorry for Gaz, who didn't even know yet. How could he tell her, even though she seemed tough enough to take anything? He guessed he would cross that bridge when he got there, if she ever woke up…He needed to stop thinking like that and focus on what he needed to do now, which was leave Earth until it was stable enough to support life…But how long would that take?

Dib continued on his way, thinking of other ways he could pull this off without resorting to…what he was doing now.

Walking down the familiar road, the damage getting worse as he went. More fires, more bodies scattered, some missing limbs, only to be found a few houses down. Dib decided to keep his head down until he got where he needed to be. The darkness was still mind-boggling, especially since it was still only 4:00. When he dared to look up again, Dib saw a small glowing in the distance. Too bright to be another fire, he knew he was almost there, to his last resort (ooh, that sounds spooky!). He walked faster, almost to a jog. He couldn't stand being outside in all this mess any longer. The glowing got brighter as he ran, and soon he stood right in front of it. It was extremely torn up now, with a few holes in the roof and some of the lawn gnomes dug up from their original spots. He knew his nemesis was still home, he could hear his robot running around, and the owner chastising him repeatedly. Dib let out a breath as he approached the misshapen door.

He knocked on it twice, and everything inside the house immediately quieted. Dib then took a step back as he waited for someone to answer. The door gradually creaked open, and a disguised eyeball peaked out. "Dib-human?" the eyeball said, opening the door to reveal the fully disguised Irken. "What brings you to Zim's base?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Zim entered his base from the newly formed hole in his roof, courtesy of the rocket accident. When he got down and looked around, his face fell in shock. Everything had been loosened from the walls, the ceiling was chipping away, and most of the furniture that hadn't been destroyed earlier was now completely obliterated. It was utter madness! How could he ever recover his base?

"!" GIR screamed in his doggy costume as he buzzed around the house with his rockets, creating even MORE of a mess (how is this even possible?).

"GIR! Stop this immediately! I command you to stop it this instant! GIR, get down from there!" Zim shrieked, then he remembered that his voice was still gone, thus unheard by the robot doggy.

"Intruder alert at front door." Computer's voice boomed throughout the house. Zim went to the door right away, while GIR continued to fly off to another compartment of the base, hopefully far off.

Zim slowly opened the door, making sure to put on his disguise. It was…the Dib- stink?

"Dib-human? What brings you to Zim's base?" Zim said, opening the door. Giving a sour look, he waited for the Dib to explain himself.

"Well, my father is dead, and my sister is hurt badly, and since our house isn't safe enough, I want to ask if…we could stay with you until Earth is safe enough to live in again? And why is your voice so soft?" Dib said nervously.

"Impossible! This base is only equipped to support an Irken invader, simple dirt-child. No human could understand the complexion or mechanics of the base. And it is none of your business, Earth-monkey." Zim replied bitterly.

"…I know that you have thirty-six chambers under your house and five elevators that lead down to those compartments." Dib stated with a bored expression. Zim's eyes bugged out for a moment, then turned cold again.

"YOU LIEEEEEEEE!" Zim shouted as loud as possible. Dib somewhat half-chuckled (what a weak chuckle) at Zim's ever-quieting attempts at yelling. "Zim is not staying on this planet any longer, anyway. He is going back to Irk to get another planet to conquer. The Tallests will understand."

"We could come with you! To watch your...uh…robot?" Dib stated.

"What service could you possibly offer Zim? He needs no help! Plus it's only more weight on the Voot cruiser, it would slow us down."

Dib sighed. He hadn't wanted to resort to this, but he knew Zim couldn't refuse his offer. "We could go as your prisoners…you could take us to your leaders and we could say that YOU conquered Earth. Anything, just take us with you!" Dib pleaded. Zim paused and considered this for a moment.

"You as my prisoners of war? Very well you can both come along. We leave this instant!" Zim agreed. Dib smiled. He looked down at his sister, who was still losing blood and couldn't walk.

"Um, before we leave, do you have the equipment to fix her leg?" Dib said, gesturing to the girl in his hands.

"Yes, yes, I will fix her while we are traveling. Computer! Call in GIR and Minimoose and tell them we are departing from this filthy planet!" Zim murmured to his Computer.

"Yes, master. GIR, Minimoose, prepare to leave the planet." Computer said, more monotone than usual. Soon the deranged, malfunctioning robot appeared along with…a floating purple moose? Zim gestured with the wave of his gloved hand to follow him to the hangar above. After a few flights of stairs—which were nearly impossible for Dib—the group was in the hangar, as was the VOOT cruiser.

"Come, now we leave this filthy place once and for all." Zim stated. As the gang all climbed in, they knew it would be extremely…snug? Especially when Gaz woke up.

"How are you going to fix Gaz with this little room AND while piloting the ship?" Dib asked.

"Silly Dib-monkey, you question the Irken technology? VOOT, expand!" Zim commanded, and as he did so, the ship grew almost twice in size.

"There, I will fix her soon. Now, leave me be until we get out of Earth's orbit." Zim whispered coldly. Clearly he wasn't happy about having other passengers with him. The roof opened to a still, dark sky. The VOOT took off upward, leaving behind a land about to be the victim of a super tsunami.

_**(**__**A/N: Well, how'd I do? AND I MEAN REALLY, HOW DID I KEEP FORGETTING TO PUT A DISCLAIMER? BUT YOU CAN'T SUE ME NOW I PUT ONE! Anyways, I know some of you are waiting to see the contest results. But I decided I like "DOOMINESS EARTH DOOM" better than anything you guys wrote, so the contest is dissolved…..JUUUUSSSSTTT KIDDING! Haha, gotcha! Naw, anyways, the winner of the contest IS….Crazy Jaky, for her idea of "Waiting for the End", just coz Linkin Park is my favorite band! It was a really close decision between that and "Apocalyptic Doom" from Mystic Supernovae, but in the end I chose that because, ironically, that was the song that gave me the idea to do this story! So, Crazy Jaky, please send me a PM saying what you want your IZ fanfiction to be about. And thank you to the rest of you, I'm glad to see that you are taking an interest in this story! If you didn't win, don't worry; I'll probably launch another contest in the future! Well, as always, please review nice things, if you spotted any grammatical/character mess-ups, please feel free to tell me. Thanks, I'll update sooooooooooonnnnnn!)**_


	5. Day 93: The Journey with Tak!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim. It belongs to Jhonen Vasquez who is a higher being over us all.

Day 93: The Journey

Three months. Three loooong months the group had spent together in that VOOT cruiser. Zim had kept his promise to Dib by repairing Gaz's injuries and making sure she didn't hurt herself again, not that she wanted his help. Many times the group had run out of food supplies and had to stop at random planets along the way, most times being chased away by a mob being angry at Zim. Who knew that one person could be wanted on so many planets, let alone planets he'd never heard of? The entire time they would constantly fight, or at least Zim, Gaz and Dib would. The worst part was that they weren't even half way to Irk yet, which was troubling since GIR had caused three civilians to lose their limbs and the VOOT to crash into countless planets.

While they were making their journey across the universe, Zim had made a promise to tell the Tallests about his "victorious victory" against the human race and of his homecoming. Surely now they would see how amazing Zim really was and promote him to a higher invader status! He had tried to contact them at least fifty times over the course of the past ninety days, and each times either the signal was too weak or the Tallests just didn't answer. They were probably too busy tending to other things.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Ahahahaha! Yeah, that was pretty funny" Tallest Purple laughed while shoving some tacos down his throat ravenously. He was recounting the time that he and Red had traveled to the planet Headsplodeia to personally pummel an invader who had been less than unprepared for Probing Day.

The two friends laughed, encouraging the other Irkens around them to laugh along. Both were eating whatever snacks they could find in the area, leaving crumbs around their robes. Suddenly a light flashed as the name ZIM blinked on a large screen, signaling his attempt to call. The laughing ceased immediately and quieted the entire Massive.

"Ignore call." Red told the computer system. The screen shut down, leaving room for Purple to tell yet another story on pummeling an invader, arousing more laughter.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Zim had been frustrated one day in particular on their journey while Gaz and Dib had been arguing in the back seat whether or not to take a restroom break. The insanity was getting to everyone on the trip excluding Minimoose. He just smiled the same and squeaked occasionally, causing GIR to go off on some sort of strange fanatical dance rave around the VOOT, taking the calm little moosey with him. Zim had been trying to contact the Tallest for the better part of that day, every time the calls were rejected. It was driving him mad, all of the noise in the back and the lack of anything to do except float in space. While he munched on some form of fattening snack he picked up on one of the planets they had recently visited, he tried typing in the contact information of the Massive, striving one last time to call the Tallests. This had been the twelfth attempted call today. If they hadn't answered any of the times before, surely they wouldn't answer now, though it never hurt to try one more time.

Waiting for the signal to patch through, Zim silenced those in the back, hoping for the siblings to quiet down enough as to not disturb his call, if the people on the other end would ever pick up. After a few somewhat silenced moments, something unexpected happened.

"What is it, Zim?" the voice and face of Tallest Red answered on the small screen in front of Zim. Zim's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he sat frozen, his mouth gaping. Behind Red, Purple stood with an annoyed look on his face, standing next to what looked like another prisoner of war, except it was Irken…

"Well? Speak, we are extremely busy dealing with this liar." Red said, stepping aside to reveal a female Irken with her head down. Her hands were cuffed behind her back, her teeth clenched as several guards stood around, watching her closely. Zim thought she looked familiar, but decided to ignore it for now and tell the Tallests his news. He cleared his throat.

"Well sirs, I am proud to inform you that I have successfully conquered planet Earth. I even have prisoners here who can tell you what happened." Zim said proudly, gesturing to the two humans in the back seat, one with a sour expression and one who was completely zoned out, tuned into her little game. Zim looked back at the screen to see the Tallests and the female prisoner looking at him, completely perplexed and bewildered. When Zim got a good look at the female prisoner, he knew where he had seen her. She had a look of more disbelief than anything else. She squinted her eyes together in a look of fury.

"TAK?" Zim belted out, catching the attention of one of the humans. Dib got out of his seat to look at the small monitor, recognizing the Irken who had nearly destroyed Earth. He peered over Zim's shoulder to watch the conversation unseen.

"Zim, do you really expect us to believe that YOU took over Earth? What proof do you really have?" Tak shouted at the defective Irken, getting several hushes from the guards and Tallests.

"Yes, Zim, what proof do you have?" Red asked, backing Tak up.

"It's true! Zim did destroy our planet! I saw the whole thing when he took us prisoner!" Dib lied from behind Zim's back, startling the alien out of his seat and onto the floor of his VOOT.

"And who are you?" Purple asked, moving closer to the monitor.

"I am Dib, a human that Zim took as a prisoner to prove that he really DID destroy my planet and all life on it! The whole planet is probably just ash and debris now…" Dib kept throwing out lies, knowing if he told the truth that Zim would probably shove both him and Gaz out the air lock.

The Tallests stood there, still with a look of exasperation, unsure of what to do now. Now what jokes would make them laugh, what would be their entertainment now that Zim had completed his mission? It was no fun anymore. Not knowing what to do at the moment, Red gave the command to cut the transmission. Everyone in that area stood silent, and Tak found this a good opportunity to run.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The female Irken kicked the guard nearest to her in the gut, causing him to double over in pain as she shot down the halls of the Massive, trying to escape. She was extremely slow since the cuffs bound her hands, giving the guards a lot of room to catch up after the general confusion of Zim's news. Tak darted through many random halls, trying to find an exit and steal a ship from the Armada. She dared to look back to find that there were only two or three guards scrambling over each other to try and catch her. This would be easier than she thought. When she looked forward again, however, at the end of the hall guards were pouring in from all sides. She activated her robotic legs from her PAK and towered above the guards, running to the end of the hall and turning the corner. At the end, a neon sign glowed with the word EXIT on it. Tak powered forward, closing her robotic legs and leaving the guards behind.

A shadow appeared from behind Tak and yanked one of her antennae, causing her to fall just in front of the exit. She grabbed it in pain and looked up to see not a guard, but an extremely tall female Irken standing above her. The Irken had standard ruby red eyes and curled antennas with several notches taken out of them. She was one of the tallest Irkens Tak had ever seen, excluding the Tallests of course. The tall female took the opportunity of Tak's confusion and pain to grab her by the handcuffs and stand her up, pushing her towards the crowd of guards that had gathered around her. One of the guards took Tak's arm and began to lead her away from the exit.

"By Tallests' orders, take her to prison cell number 777." The tall Irken ordered. Her voice was rougher than expected, though she was currently breathless from chasing down Tak.

"Yes, Elite Vio." The guard obeyed, as though the Tallests themselves were speaking to him. Vio nodded as she escorted the new prisoner to her cell. Once they arrived down the hall to the prison cell with the label 777, the guard basically tossed Tak in, locking the door as fast as possible. Vio dismissed the guards as Tak began to yell, standing up and rattling the bars on her prison cell. Vio just laughed as she said, "Enjoy your stay on the Massive, shorty."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The Tallests stood on the Bridge of the Massive; each deep in their own confused thoughts. Finally Red broke the silence by saying, "What do you think he'll do next?"

"Who cares, so long as he doesn't come back to Irk." Purple replied.

"And if he does?"

"Then it's just one more prisoner to fill up the Massive."

_**(A/N: Hey guys! Sorry I haven't' updated in a few days, I was on vacation at Six Flags. Yeah, it was pretty fun, thanks for asking. But here's the first chapter of the story with its new name! I still need a story to do from Crazy Jaky, so please PM me and I'll do that as soon as possible! Anyways, did y'all like it? Zim and Tak finally made some form of contact, did that please all of you who are here just for the ZATR part, or at least to hold you off until later? OH! And how did you guys like my OC, Vio? She's pretty mean, huh? Oh well, I like her, so too bad if you don't! Oh, and sorry that the chapter is pretty short, I just didn't have much inspiration right now. Well, as always, please review, since I was a little disappointed that I only got two reviews last chapter, and they are a big part of why I'm continuing this story! Tell yo' friends, tell yo' teachers, tell yo' pets and REVIEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Kay bye!)**_


	6. Day 136: The Super short Filler Chapter!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim. If I did, then clearly I would be an equal to Jhonen Vasquez, which I am not.

Day 138: The Super short Filler Chapter!

Zim, Dib, Gaz, GIR, Minimoose and the Computer of Zim's VOOT had now been in space for longer than any of them could keep track of, losing their way among the confusing stars and planets quite a few times already. They fought constantly, yelling over each other which way was correct according to each of their own "charts". Irk was still quite a few months away, leaving a ton of room for more insanity to drip into each of the passenger's minds…all but Minimoose, of course. Squeaking happily as he went along, he kept Gaz the most company, since her Game Slave had been crushed in the vacuum of space after Dib had gone too far during one of their sibling arguments. He had thrown the handheld out of the small airlock after prying it away from Gaz's steel grip. Even though the scar on his face was still healing, he thought Gaz was almost starting to forgive him.

Zim was going crazy, even more so than the journey to Earth. The "Doom Song" was much better than human prisoners fighting over the last Licky Stick or the window seat, at least to the short Irken. His voice had recovered fully after about four months, though he ruined it again many times by yelling his side of an argument at another passenger. He often talked to himself, quietly reviewing the lines he planned to say to the Tallests once he spoke to them in person. His idea was to first land on Irk, return to a vacant dwelling he left for Operation Impending Doom I. Then he would board the Massive, taking the humans as prisoners there and leaving them for good. Finally, he would return home, to live as a civilian and hero to Irk, maybe finding a job as a foot soldier to the Armada. It was a foolproof plan in the eyes of Zim.

While all of these events had been happening, GIR was there to annoy everyone who dared to cross his path, finding the center of everyone's irritation nerve, so to speak, and metaphorically poke it to death. It was a shame that the robot didn't have vocal cords so much as vocal circuits, which couldn't be worn out with any volume or amount of bloody loud screaming, though his can-shaped head now was deformed with the dents of Gaz's punches. He just laughed, shredding everyone's so called irritation nerve further.

Some kind dialogue was spoken between the passengers of the Irken VOOT, though. Dib apologized when he spilled soda on the ship's dashboard, causing the speed boosters to short circuit, meaning they could only go two light-years an hour until they could find a planet that manufactured VOOT repair parts. Gaz also finally said her thanks to Zim for helping her rehabilitate her leg, though the rest of that day consisted of an unbroken awkward silence of shock and humiliation.

Overall, though, everyone thought it was better than what would have happened if they had stayed on Earth.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Rotting away in her prison cell, Tak sat on the musty floor and faced towards the wall. She stared at this wall often, her favorite one of the four she was given, not including the one that kept her locked in. She pulled her legs up to her chin, having no more than an arm's length of room in her new cell she was given in solitary confinement, being too much of a pester to other prisoners and of too many escape attempts. Her purple eyes were wide as she shivered involuntarily, though it was nowhere near cold. It was extremely hard to breathe in the cell, it was so hot and stuffy, and her claustrophobia didn't exactly bring her to love her new home any more than she already did. She often screamed at her circumstances, at herself, at the tall Irken Vio who was her own personal guard, who often teased her and verbally harassed her, spitting insults that wouldn't make sense to any normal person who heard it, "inside jokes" as Vio labeled them. Sometimes Tak would scream at nothing, just hoping to wear out her voice so that she wouldn't have to put up with it anymore.

It was so out of her personality, this entire ordeal. She was used to being the lone Irken scourge that was too proud to let anything cause her pain, always standing as tall as possible and standing her ground to challengers. Usually she would be coming up with her own insults to throw at Vio, and use any time that she had of freedom to hurt her. But the time in the cell had caused her an understanding to go off in her head that it was no longer her decision how she wanted to live, what she wanted to eat, when she wanted to sleep, when she wanted to walk outside, what she could say or what she could do. Her Almighty Tallests took those privileges away from her. If only she had one more go at that annoying little defective Irken…

"Turn around, you washed up Irken. Sulking in the corner doesn't make you any less fat. Come get your food." the gruff voice of Vio growled amusingly from the small slot that sat at the top of the steel door that confined Tak. Ignoring the comment, Tak didn't bother to turn around to hear a metal tray of food slide from the slot and fall to the ground. She wasn't hungry. She waited for a moment and realized that the slot hadn't closed yet, and turned her head to a slight angle so that one of her eyes could see why. The ruby eyes of Vio were staring down into Tak's back, observing what she was doing suspiciously.

"Hm. Well aren't ya going to eat? Would've thought that one your size would have been all over that meal already." Vio chuckled.

"I'm. Not. Fat." Tak's voice said in a calm whisper, turning back around so she wouldn't have to face her torturer.

"I'm sorry, what was that? I don't speak 'incompetent'." Vio sneered in some form of dark amusement.

"I'M NOT FAT! GET AWAY FROM MY CELL!" Tak screamed, her face contorting into one of hate and hostility. She got up and turned towards the door, stepping on her meal with her worn out boots. She looked up to see Vio's face melt into one of somewhat sympathetic pity. Tak's fist collided with the metal door, screaming Irken profanities and slang insults. It felt good to finally get it out of her system. Looking up once again, she noticed that the slot had once again been closed, which meant she had been screaming at nothing the whole time. Defeated, she closed her eyes and went back to her previous position; sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her body, and faced her favorite wall.

_**(A/N: Yeah, as you can tell, I haven't been updating as frequently as I used to. I've been doing a lot the past few weeks, and in hindsight, it was probably bad to start this story just three weeks before school starts, because now I will update even less once it does start. As you can also tell, this chapter is quite a bit shorter than my others, but this, my dear children, is also a filler chapter since I'm not ready for the bigger adventure of the story to start yet, and since it's a filler chapter, it has my permission to be shorter. Onto other news: Crazy Jaky, I swear, if you don't message me telling me what short story you want I'm going to find you and make sure that there is NO hair left on your head when you wake up. Also, did you know that it was Richard Horvitz's birthday yesterday? So this chapter is a happy birthday gift from me to you, Richard! I you don't know who Richard Horvitz is, next time you watch Invader Zim, pay attention to the end credits. In other OTHER news: I'm planning on making a sequel for this story! Anyone else excited? I have one line written down so far: "When you have one thousand voices rebelling, who can hear a Tallest's command?" Haha, I like it. Contest for next chapter, so stay tuned!)**_


	7. Day 179: The Dwelling Shift

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim. Don't sue me unless you're gonna sue all the other 8,000 and whatnot other fanfiction writers!

Day 179: The Dwelling Shift

Zim sat in the front seat of the VOOT, occasionally looking down at his gloved fingers, his ruby eyes glancing awkwardly around the Irken spacecraft. Everything had been quiet this entire day inside the VOOT of Insanity, as Zim often referred to it. Even GIR had been silent, distracting his ever-busy mouth with snacks from the planet they had just departed from. Nobody was quite sure how long they had been traveling now. "Almost six months." Dib had predicted. Surely Irk was only a few hundred light-years away. If so, then at the rate they were going, the group would arrive at their destination in less than two days. Then, Zim could finally return home, turn in the humans as prisoners aboard the Massive, live as a civilian (or maybe even an Elite soldier) on his home planet. Of course he would have his SIR unit dismantled and melted down, for the safety of everyone, including himself. Whatever the Tallests wanted to do with the human prisoners was up to them, probably enslaving them or just executing them publicly. What an entertaining thing to go and watch. He could practically hear the people chanting his name in adoration, the smeets looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Zim! Zim! Zim!"

"Zim!"

"ZIM! Hey! Zim!" Dib yelled from the back seat, pulling the Irken out of his lovely daydream.

"What is it, Dib-filth?" Zim snapped. Dib rolled his eyes, tired of the ridiculous nicknames given to him.

"What planet is that? The one we just passed?" Dib asked, pointing out the window at a planet with a bright pink surface, red clouds swirling around the entire thing. One giant landmass could be seen from the distance, a few small islands everywhere around the edges. Zim pressed his face against the glass of the window and gasped.

"Its…Irk!" Zim replied, relief filling his voice.

"Oh, great, more stupid aliens." Gaz muttered to herself from the seat next to Dib.

"We cannot go there, though. First we must find the Massive so I can finally get rid of your ever-tiring presence in my VOOT. There you will be kept prisoner, most likely for all of your pathetic human life, so I suggest you make yourself as comfortable as possible here." Zim said sharply. "Computer, bring up the coordinates of the Massive at the moment."

A hologram appeared out of the dashboard of the VOOT, showing a graph, marking certain stars and planets with dots. The graph kept narrowing itself down to the position of the Massive, reaching a point where there was more detail in the dots, showing which stars were closest to the Massive's location. Finally the graph showed the large red ship next to a few planets, moving quite fast towards the VOOT's location. About three hundred light-years away, and closing in fast.

"Computer, take us to the Massive!" Zim said, the hologram disappearing and the VOOT lurching to a sudden start, sending all of the passengers strait into their seats.

The ship was going extremely fast, stars shooting past in clean white lines. It looked like one of those sci-fi Earth films, the main character (captain of the ship) giving out commands to a computer program, having his crew there with him…not to be imprisoned, but to be his trusted counterparts. That was certainly not the case on this ship.

"Computer!" Zim said shakily as the ship pinned him to his seat, "Approximately how much time until we reach the Massive?"

"Estimated two Earth-hours until the Massive is reached." Computer replied in a bored, monotone fashion.

_Excellent, _Zim thought, _only two more hours to tolerate humans._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Tak sat in her cell tiredly. She looked around, having that odd felling like she'd been forgotten something all day. She turned and looked at the wall behind her, realizing what it was. She bent down and picked up a small rock, remembering when the rock had been large and healthy, not tiny and worn down. She turned back to the wall and made a diagonal slash across a group of four tally marks. That made one hundred and eighty even. One hundred and eighty days of being locked in her solitary confinement. All thanks to that horrible small Irken.

"Zim…" Tak growled at the wall, throwing down her "chalk". A few bits of it chipped off and scattered across the filthy floor, leaving some dust in its place. She huffed and stared at the marked-up wall, counting again to make sure that she had the right amount of days. While counting somewhere in the mid-seventies, a light brighter than anything she had seen in awhile came from the wall where the door was supposed to be. Inside the frame of the door, a tall shape stood, slightly slumped over. The dark shape walked closer inside of the cell, grabbing Tak and cuffing her hands in a rapid motion.

"W-what's happening, Vio?" Tak said, being shoved out of her previous cell, down the halls of the Massive.

"It's Elite Vio, to you, Ms. Pricky-puss. And by Tallests orders, due to 'such good behavior and cooperation', you have been reassigned to your old cell #777. Quit dragging your giant feet and get a move on, the scuffle from those monstrous things may cause a power-outage." Vio chuckled to herself, shoving Tak faster down the halls, to where other prisoners were held, a few Vortians giving them death glares as they passed. This all seemed pathetic to Tak, the bossy orders and crude remarks being given to _her. _Being in prison for so long dampened Tak's flame, covered it in soot, to be rediscovered at a later time. That time was now. Tak growled to herself, and came to an abrupt stop, causing Vio to nearly slam right into Tak's back. She stumbled back, furious at her prisoner.

"I said to move it, little bit-"

"No! I'm tired of this! Keep me in here as long as you want, you'll never change my mind, do any damage. I'll always be sharp as a tack (a/n: no pun intended) and I'll always try to escape, no matter what you say or how you hurt me! Go on, beat me up and drag me to my old cell if you have to, but I won't give myself up to you anymore!" Tak screamed, causing the entire prison wing of the Massive to quiet down to an eerie level. Vio collected herself and drew herself up, making her seem taller than usual.

"Very well, if I must." Vio said calmly. Both stood in a fighting stance in the middle of the hall. Vio decided to skip the physical violence and resort just on weapons. She reached and opened her PAK to grab the first weapon she could find that was gun-shaped. She grabbed something and shot it at Tak, hitting her arm, sending her sprawling on the floor in pain. She screamed something at Vio; it wasn't quite distinguishable in between her screams and cries of pain.

"Oh, quit being such a drama queen." Vio said, standing next to Tak's head as she loomed over her. Quite a bit of green Irken blood was pooling around Tak, gushing out at an alarming pace. When Tak didn't shut up like Vio wanted, she did something that was considered a crime if it wasn't inflicted on a criminal herself. Vio smashed her heel into Tak's antenna. The most sensitive place on an Irken's body. The pain was far too intense for even this reawakened and revised Tak, causing the female to pass out.

Vio stepped away and rolled Tak over, grabbing her from the handcuffs and pulling her up to where she was half standing, half slouching. Vio muttered something along the lines of "…Irk you're heavy…" before turning to some of the other prisoners and projecting her voice.

"This, you prison garbage, is what happens when you decide to cross the Irken Empire, as you all will soon come to find."

With that, Vio dragged Tak down the hall to cell number 777 and threw her inside to bleed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Aboard the Bridge of the Massive stood the two Tallests along with a crew of hard-working Irkens typing away on their monitors. Red and Purple stood there, or at least Red did, analyzing data on the current progress of Operation Impending Doom II. Purple was somewhere in the back of the bridge, digging through a pile of snacks looking for some nachos. Over half of the universe was property of the Irken Empire, This put a grin on the face of Red. Purple gasped, catching the attention of Red.

"What is it?" Red asked irritably.

"We…we're out of nachos!" Purple said sadly, hanging his head in defeat. Red sighed and knew what had to be done.

"Okay, who took his nach—"

"Sirs! Pardon my interruption, but it seems as though there is a medium sized unidentified object heading for us at an unsafe pace. The scanners are saying that the object is of Irken origin." one of the drones sitting in a seat said, unsure of what to do. Red sighed again.

"Put it on the screen, full magnification." he ordered. The drone nodded and pushed a few buttons before an image appeared on the screen of a map, the Massive represented with a red dot, the "foreign" object represented with a smaller blue dot. It said that the distance was approximately 250 light years away from the Massive.

"Zoom in on the object, find out what it is exactly." Red commanded. The map zoomed in closer and a few labels popped up next to the object in Irken text, telling what it was and when it was built, but not who was piloting it.

"A VOOT, sir, of the early Defatz colonies on Vort, designed for battle against Irken enemies, serial number 7609982-435674. It can't tell who is piloting this model, though there is more than one passenger inside the ship." the drone responded.

"Find out if the serial number is registered by any Irken invader pilots."

Some clicking was heard in the background as everyone on the Bridge stopped their work to see what was going on, all eyes on the drone who was researching the object. When the clicking stopped, Red turned around to see why it was taking so long for the drone to speak up and say what it was.

"Well?"

"Sir I'm not entirely sure you're going to like this…" the drone hesitated.

"I demand that you tell me who it belongs to." Red said in a low voice, almost a growl. The drone finally nodded and hit a button, which projected a name on the screen.

_Invader Zim._

_**(A/N: Yay, I squeezed in another chapter! Maybe a couple more before school starts, then I will probably only be able to post on weekends. One more chapter till Zim and Tak actually like INTERACT. And last chapter I DID say I would hold a contest, you get, yet again, THREE chapters to post your entry. Here's the contest:**_

_**To get your own OC into my story! Two categories: one male Irken, one female Irken. NONE OF THAT HALF IRKEN, HALF VORTIAN/HUMAN/WHATEVER MADE UP SPECIES YOU MAY HAVE CREATED CRAP! I will only accept FULL Irkens. Each person can enter each category once, and I will not pick both characters from one person only. You must provide the following:**_

_**Name:**_

_**Age:**_

_**Gender:**_

_**Height:**_

_**Eye color:**_

_**History:**_

_**Personality:**_

_**Rank or Position: (ex: Foot soldier, Armada, Elite soldier, Invader, etc. NO Tallest!)**_

_**Physical Description:**_

_**That's all for now! Yes, whoever wins WILL have a place in the sequel. Any question, ask me! CRAZY JAKY, IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME A STORY IDEA I WILL JUST WRITE DOWN A RANDOM STORY! That's all, don't forget to review, bai!**_


	8. Day 180: The Collision

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Invader Zim. I just don't, okay, I mean really, gosh, I just don't!

Day 180: The Collision

Anxiously waiting in the back seat, Dib sat, quite fidgety. He would soon be turned over to the Irken Empire, likely used as a test subject, or just another prisoner to flaunt like a trophy in the face of the universe. Zim had mentioned something earlier about possibly being executed. That idea didn't bother Dib as much as staying prisoner the rest of his life. He wasn't exactly sure why, but it felt better to suffer quickly and get it over with than to have to sit in prison and rot there, probably going insane, getting beat up by thugs there. The possibilities were endless, which was why execution seemed like a better plan. Maybe if they were put in prison, he could do something bad, making sure that he would get killed. Though he would hate to leave Gaz by herself, especially because of how fragile she appeared to others. Thinking about it though, she could probably fend for herself. It was difficult accepting his fate, knowing what could happen to him and his sister, all the things that could go wrong.

He just couldn't get his mind wrapped around anything that was happening. His father's death was all a blur, though the six months sitting in the VOOT had given him plenty of time to silently mourn. His home planet destroyed itself. That was even more difficult to accept, if that was even possible. They had discovered that the strange blackout was due to the sun exploding. What happened to the rest of life on Earth was still a mystery to the travelers, the signal that let them receive Earth broadcasts forgotten long months ago. It was sad to know that an entire race had basically killed themselves, what with all of the pollution and hatred floating around in the atmosphere of the planet, it was like they doomed themselves. Sighing, Dib turned to the window he was next to, looking out at the quickly passing stars, counting in his head all of the people he would probably never see again.

GIR, on the other hand, upon finishing the last of their snacks, climbed over Gaz to get in the front seat next to Zim. At first he sat there quietly, almost earning a bit of trust from Zim, which was quickly turned into a pile of dust that blew away in the wind of annoyingness.

"We there yet?" GIR asked, poking Zim's head.

"No, GIR, not yet." Zim replied, brushing off GIR's poking finger.

"Oh…we there yet?"

Knowing where this would eventually lead up to, which was more of GIR's insanity brushing off on everyone in the VOOT, Zim decided to end the conversation now.

"No! GIR, we won't be there for another forty-five Earth minutes, so do not ask Zim again! Understood?" Zim said, practically yelling at the defective SIR. GIR looked up in confusion for a moment. His face quickly switched to one of happiness and enjoyment (at an annoying level, of course).

"Uh-huh!" GIR said enthusiastically, nodding rapidly. He sat still in his chair, facing forward and watching the stars and planets pass by.

"Thank you." Zim breathed under his breath. The ship was quiet for a moment, not really awkward, sort of just a peaceful silence. It was some of the nicest moments the group had seen in six months. But all nice things come to an end eventually.

"Where we goin'?" GIR thunderously asked. Zim groaned and Dib chuckled in the back seat. Zim's head collided with the front of the VOOT in defeat.

"The Massive, GIR, we are going to the Massive and we AREN'T there yet." Zim breathed, his voice muffled in the VOOT's front.

"Ooohh…we there y—"

"NO! Get in the back with the humans, you can join them in prison." Zim barked, lifting his head to reveal intense, restless eyes, pointing a finger to the back. GIR flashed red in duty mode, saluting, then turned his usual happy cyan self and crawled back into the seat between Gaz and Dib. The two siblings both shifted one spot over away from GIR.

"Alert, approaching Irken vessel 'The Massive'. They have their weapons defenses up and running at one hundred percent accuracy. Put up VOOT's main weapons?" the computer said, bringing up a screen showing the distance and speed of the Massive. They were going at a slower speed than the VOOT, and they were very close.

"No, keep the weapons down, they're probably just on their way to destroy another planet." Zim said, earning a scoff of disgust from Dib, which in turn, earned Dib a death glare from Zim.

"Hey, if you two ladies are done with your catfight, here comes the ship." Gaz growled, interrupting the staring contest, both turning and looking out of the window to see a gigantic—massive, if you will—vessel coming towards them very quickly. Zim stopped the VOOT abruptly, knocking the passengers from their place, all hitting something. Gaz glowered at Zim while Dib rubbed his head, making sure it hadn't cracked open or something. As the Irken flagship came closer, they could see that it was also slowing down; their weapons charged a deadly red color. The Armada was close behind, following in a seemingly unorganized mass of ships. Both ships stood there a moment. After a few seconds, the small screen on the VOOT's dashboard began to flicker to life in a black and white static, eventually fading into the faces of the two Tallests, a tall female Irken, and a bridge full of others who were there watching with eyes full of anger.

"Yes, my Ta—"

"Irken invader Zim, by Irken laws of war, you and every other passenger of your ship is under arrest and will be kept prisoner on the Massive until we have further judged your crimes. Turn yourselves in or we will be forced to shoot you down." Red said calmly, interrupting Zim, turning and making sure the weapons were ready, getting thumbs up from someone in control of the ship's lasers.

"Eh? Wait—"

"He resisted, shoot him down." Purple said quickly, and almost as soon as his voice stopped, the blasters started, shooting and hitting the trunk of the VOOT, shutting down one of the jets, making it nearly impossible for Zim to steer out of the way of more lasers. He tried doing difficult maneuvers, sending the passengers flying everywhere. He dived down, going into a spiral, narrowly dodging the weapons that the Massive had an endless supply of. They could keep going like this for a very long time, and they did, the VOOT sending back some of their own weapons, though they had a very limited supply. Taunting them, Zim zipped in front of the Massive over and over, trying to confuse them. The same drone that discovered that it was Zim who was piloting was also the one firing the main weapons, though he held off while Zim was trying to confuse them by zooming everywhere in the front of the Massive. This time he was going to hit the target, so he waited until Zim either thought they stopped attacking or was too stupid to see if he was running out of fuel in the VOOT.

Eventually the VOOT slowed down enough to lock on as a target. The drone followed the VOOT's movements, waiting until he was right in front of the blasters. He waited…and waited…and impatiently waited…there! The drone fired and it hit the VOOT, sending parts of it flying everywhere, barely protecting its living cargo from the blast, though the outside was on fire. The small ship finally came to a stop, floating in the weightlessness of space.

"Send a couple of ships from the Armada to capture them and bring them aboard. We can't afford to lose Zim again while he's so close." Red commanded, waiting for some of the ships to get the message. A few moments later, three Spittle Runners came into view, circling the totaled VOOT (if you could even call it that anymore). Irken foot soldiers came out of the Runners, wearing their protective suits, finding an entrance to the VOOT that wasn't on fire. They each carried some suits so that the passengers wouldn't die from the lack of oxygen.

Walking in, they found Zim laying across the front seat, trying to stabilize the VOOT's systems with one hand, the other was lying limply at his side, probably injured. In the back, there were two aliens, each pinned to their seats, gripping them with ghost-white hands. There was a SIR unit, with strange blue eyes, most likely defective, clutching some form of purple animal with a permanently placed smile on its face.

"I'll take the Irken, you two grab the aliens." the tallest foot soldier said, forcing Zim into the suit. He heard Zim whimper when he put the suit over the arm that appeared to be injured. He also managed to shut down the defective SIR unit and grab him. He would be melted down into a nice PAK for a smeet. The other two foot soldiers literally ripped the humans from their seats, yanking the suits on them. The one that appeared female put up a bit of struggle, kicking and throwing punches, but was soon limp in the arms of the Irken, the Irken equivalent of a tazer being put to her shoulder, causing her to pass out.

"Gaz!" the male alien said, getting a hush from the others in there. He was grabbed and handcuffed, as were all of the other passengers, except for the purple thing, who was just put on a leash and dragged off with the rest. Using the jets in their PAKs, the foot soldiers exited the VOOT with their prisoners, floating with them across the small distance to the dock extending from the Massive, a female Irken waiting for them at the edge of the dock with two others.

"Here you go, Vio, more prisoners to put in your wing." the foot soldier carrying Zim said to the female as they boarded the dock of the Massive, handing the prisoners off to the ones waiting there. The one they called "Vio" took Zim, while the male and female Irkens behind her took the aliens. Vio shoved Zim much more roughly than the foot soldier, trying to get him and the others into the Massive's prisons as soon as possible. Once inside the giant entrance hall of the Massive, Vio spoke.

"So, you're the infamous invader Zim, huh? I thought someone who caused so much doom and destruction would've been a bit stronger, at least taller. Listen, I have a prisoner who always talks about you, I think you would make a nice cellmate for them; they get quite lonely by themselves. I try to pay visits as often as possible to prevent that, but with you in there with them, I won't have to come around as much. I think you two will get along great!" she explained, her rough voice ringing throughout the hall.

"This way to the prison." she read aloud the sign that hung above one of the halls branching off of the main one. She turned into the hall, looking back to make sure that the others were following.

"Hm, hey, Zim, what do you think we should do to your friends? Keeping them in prison would be too easy. I'm thinking maybe a lifetime of slavery, maybe execution. I've heard that they need help at Shloogorgh's in Foodcourtia. I think that would suit them very well. It's not my decision to make, though, but I'm just getting creative. What do you think?" Silence.

"Hm?" Nothing.

"Answer me!" Vio hissed, kicking Zim's heel as he walked.

"I dunno…"

"Huh? I didn't quite hear you, speak up!"

"I don't know…" Zim said, for one of the first times in his life feeling truly defeated.

"Hm, well here we are, prison cell number 777. It'll give you some time to think about that answer, trust me." Vio said, opening the cell to reveal a lump over in the corner, curled up and shivering slightly. Vio pushed Zim into the cell, making him land on his injured hand. He winced at the intense pain and held the hand. Before Vio shut the cell, Zim locked eyes with Dib and they came to a silent understanding: _We are on the same side._

_**(A/N: Wellllllll, how'd I do? Okay, so I lied, NEXT chapter Zim and Tak will…umm…interact. The OC contest is still going on, I will choose one male Irken and one female Irken OC of yours to be in the story, and now I will accept one Vortian! Yep, one Vortian, male or female. Each person can enter each category once, but I won't choose more than one winner from one person. I have some great entries already, so hurry up and send yours in, coz the sooner I have them the more time I can try and plot a story around them. Ok, and thank you Crazy Jaky for giving me a story, I'll try and make it good! Anyways, sorry if this is poorly written, I literally got NO sleep last night or the night before, so I'm running on coffee and pure will! Ok well that should be all, don't forget to join Operation Head Pigeons 2.0 on Facebook if you have one, read and review more and uhm…don't kill dogs? It's illegal. Kbye!)**_


	9. Slightly Important Author's Note

Warning: This is just an important author's note regarding the story! Okay, so school started a few weeks ago, and with that, I've barely been able to update this story…scratch that, I HAVEN'T been able to update this story. Even though I'm in middle school, I'm taking high school algebra I and physical science classes, instead of regular math an science, so things get a bit tougher for me there. I also have other high school credit classes, but those two are the ones that give me the most homework, so I'll only mention them. Now I want your opinion: do you think I can balance all of this with a story? In other words: Do you want me to continue the story, even though updates will be extremely spaced out and much less frequent? I don't want any reviews saying, "Well, it's your choice, do whatever you wanna do." I want your opinion on how I should handle this, because if this story gets too boring to you, then I don't want to continue writing it. Just say yes or no on whether or not I should continue the story, plain and simple. Oh, and if you noticed, I changed my penname :D I personally like it! You probably don't care, but just so you don't confuse me with my old penname PedroTheTotalDramaFreak, because we are the same people…Oh, and I STILL need OC's for later on in the story, I've only gotten a few! The form to fill out to get your OC in is on Chapter 7 if you need it. Okay, thanks, that's all!

-A.T. Vio


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